


About Mermaids

by Quecksilver_Eyes



Category: The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: I hope this counts, Poetry, This isn't directly a little mermaid fic, and she's mentioned, buuut since there's no prosa tag here, carnivorous killer mermaids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 08:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10849884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quecksilver_Eyes/pseuds/Quecksilver_Eyes
Summary: There’s something in the waterAnd it takes our childrenTakes themSwallows themWhole andSpits them out againUntil they’reSomething newSomething strangeSomethingOther and inhuman





	About Mermaids

So  
Here’s the thing  
Everyone likes to  
Forget  
About mermaids:

They are predators  
Predators have prey  
Have teeth  
Have mouth  
Have  
Strategy  
They hunt

Predator cannot look like prey 

Except  
When it wants to  
When it has to  
When it’s a  
Strategy 

There’s a little town  
Off the coast  
In a little land  
Nobody cares about  
And there’s a legend  
That people whisper to each other  
In the middle of the night  
When no one can sleep  
No one’s afraid 

They are afraid  
Because there are ships  
Going out  
That  
Never come back  
Children missing  
Mothers screaming  
Crying  
Hunching over  
An empty casket  
Begging for answers  
They’re never there

 And the story  
The story reads thusly: 

There is something  
In the waters  
Just off shore  
Maybe a mile in and you’ll meet it  
So never  
Go swimming 

There’s something in the water  
And it takes our children  
Takes them  
Swallows them  
Whole and  
Spits them out again  
Until they’re

Something new  
Something strange  
Something  
Other and inhuman  
Don’t trust  
A mute child  
Standing  
On the beach  
Staring at you

Don’t trust a child  
In raggedy clothes and  
Don’t trust a child  
Without shoes

You’re prey and  
The child is  
Nothing but  
Bait

 It’s a game

The thing just off shore  
People say it’s a  
Mermaid, but they  
Cannot be  
Sure  
Maybe  
Maybe it’s just a person  
But she takes these children  
And she turns them  
Into bait

 Makes them play  
This game of  
Approach strangers  
Stare at them  
Make them feel  
Sorry  
For you 

Do not talk  
If you talk, they will know  
Because your talk is  
Unlike anything  
They have ever heard  
Because who needs speech  
Underwater  
Where songs can carry  
So much better

So never open your mouth  
Just stand on the beach  
Still wet from the sea water  
Sand clinging to you  
Hands raw from playing  
With bones  
And dead fish  
And all the things  
People throw into the sea

 Lead them into the water  
Lead them just deep enough for her  
To grab them

People disappear  
And those who survive the attacks  
They warn you to never  
Go to the beach 

You haven’t been here in years  
And you’ve forgotten  
Just what it feels like  
To live in this town 

Your fiancée is praying  
Sitting on the floor  
Her headscarf discarded  
On the chair next to you  
And you read a book and smile  
And you’ve forgotten  
The stories  
No, no, not forgotten  
You just  
Just can’t quite piece together  
How anyone could believe this to be true

 So  
When she’s finished praying  
And she gets up  
From her knees  
You smile at her  
Give her a kiss and leave  
Because you have never talked  
You’re mute  
You’ve never been taken by any being  
That convinced you to play games

 So  
You’re mute  
In a town that’s afraid  
Of mute people  
So you close the door behind you  
And you go to the beach  
And you stick your toes  
Into the water  
Someone taps your shoulder  
And you turn around 

And it’s a little girl  
In rags  
Without shoes  
Hair matted  
Eyes sparkling  
Curious  
Hands deformed  
You smile at her  
And she  
Does not react  
Just looks at you  
Looks at your feet

 As if she  
Can’t quite believe you  
Would stick your feet  
Into something  
You’ve been warned of your entire life 

You don’t have time  
To remember  
That all the stories have been true  
Don’t have time  
To see  
Just what lurks beneath the surface 

But she does not kill you 

You wake up, surrounded by people  
People in rags  
People with matted hair  
With bones  
And all the things  
People throw into the sea  
With plastic bags and oily legs  
With trash  
Bound around their necks 

The creature sitting in front of you  
Is not  
Human like  
It’s a predator  
And your mind is screaming at you  
To run, but you’re human  
And humans have a history  
Of looking at predators  
And trying to make them  
Theirs  
So you sit up  
Look at her  
She cooks her head

Her fangs are long  
And sharp  
Her eyes  
Do not have an iris  
Her hair  
Is short  
And cut  
Her torso is covered in scales  
There are webs  
Between her fingers and claws  
Where nails are supposed to be 

And  
No  
She doesn’t have legs  
You were quite right  
She’s a mermaid

But she’s not like the little mermaid  
Not like Undine  
Not like Melusina  
Or the Donauweibchen 

Her tail is long  
And sleek  
And dark  
And covered in scales  
And it’s  
Full of scars  
It’s bloody  
And you think you can see  
The marks  
Your own nails  
Have left on it 

And she smiles at you  
And you  
Think of your mother  
Who has always been so afraid  
Of the mermaid 

“She doesn’t exist”  
You used to say  
“Why are you so scared?” 

“I’m not scared  
Of her existing”  
Your mother used to answer  
Looking at you  
“I know that she does  
I’m scared that  
She will take you  
That she will think  
You’re one of hers”

 So  
What is a mermaid then?  
A pretty little girl  
Falling in love  
With a man  
Giving her voice  
And her soul  
And her life  
For him? 

A spirit  
Warning  
And deceiving in the same breath  
Because she cannot quite  
Make up her mind?

 A child  
Not knowing what they’re doing  
Luring people in  
Until they drown  
Letting them taste the water  
For themselves  
Because after all  
What is good for them  
That must be good for the others  
Too?

 Or is a mermaid  
More like a deep sea fish  
Beautiful to look at  
If you have the eyes for it  
But  
By god  
Do not come near it if you are  
Big enough  
To be prey 

If you  
Were a seal  
Do you think you would read  
Romance novels  
About seals falling in love  
With sharks? 

And how better  
To allure a human  
Than with something  
That looks like them  
But is not  
Like them  
At all?

So they hold a funeral  
They don’t quite know how  
At first  
Because  
After all  
How do you bury  
A girl that’s disappeared  
A girl that was supposed  
To get married  
A girl  


A woman  
Without a voice  
Who had never made plans? 

They choose a casket  
It’s pretty  
They cry over it  
They bury it

And  
Slowly  
A new tale  
Begins to spread 

The tale  
Of the girl  
Who goes to the graveyard  
And is never seen again  
By anyone  
Because after all  
She doesn’t exist

The mermaid’s  
Children  
The mermaid’s  
Bait  
Are not interested  
In the graves  
Of those  
They kill.


End file.
